Why is Teams not sounding notifications?
You see the banner slide in from the top right, but it's completely silent. This is one of the most common Teams notification sound issues on Mac. The good news: it's almost always a single toggle that fixes it.
The most likely cause
macOS has a per-app setting called "Play sound for notification." When this is off for Teams, the notification banner still appears — it just doesn't make any noise. This setting is separate from Teams' own sound preferences, which is why it's easy to miss.
How to fix it
- Open System Settings on your Mac.
- Go to Notifications.
- Scroll down and click Microsoft Teams.
- Turn on "Play sound for notification".
- While you're here, confirm the notification style is set to Banners or Alerts (not "None").
Check the alert volume
macOS has a separate alert volume that controls notification sounds. Open System Settings → Sound and look for the "Alert volume" slider. If it's all the way to the left, you won't hear any notification sounds from any app — including Teams.
Check Teams' own sound setting
Open Teams → Settings → Notifications. Make sure "Play sounds with notifications" is enabled. If both the macOS toggle and the Teams toggle are on but you still hear nothing, check that no Focus mode is active and that your audio output device is correct.
When the sound plays but it's the wrong one
Some Mac users report that Teams notifications play the macOS default alert sound instead of the Teams sound. This can happen after a restart or a macOS update, and it's related to how Notification Center caches sound preferences. Restarting Teams usually fixes it. If it keeps happening, resetting the Notification Center cache by logging out and back into your Mac can help.
Get per-notification control with Chirpy
Even when everything works, Teams plays the same sound for every notification. Chirpy lets you break that pattern. Assign a unique sound to your manager, a different sound to a project channel, and silence everything else. It runs natively on macOS from the menu bar — no plugins required.
Frequently asked questions
This is typically a Notification Center cache issue. Restarting Teams or logging out and back into macOS usually restores the correct Teams notification sound.
Yes. macOS has a separate alert volume slider in System Settings → Sound. If this is set to zero, no app — including Teams — will play notification sounds.